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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Dots and Doodles and 4 more days to go...

I love to doodle.I'll doodle on ANYTHING, and a little mark somewhere that wasn't meant to be there is a great excuse to turn it into a work of art. So - I bought this white leather purse at a craft fair and then found there was a small cut in the leather. I showed the person who sold it to me, and she nicely gave me another, but told me because the first one was damaged, she didn't want it back and therefore I should keep it! AHA!! To me, it was an excuse to break out the Sharpies! Got a mark on your sneakers? DECORATE! Is there a paint blob on your favorite shirt? DOODLE!

Anyhow, with only 4 days left for school and still lots to do, I find myself irrationally thinking about next September and how I want to start the school year. I'd like to use the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds.

Maybe I'll give each child a piece of paper with a random mark on it (or better yet, maybe they'll each make a little mark on a paper that will then be give to someone else). Perhaps the mark will be a fingerprint, a smudge, a paint drip, or a smear of some sort. What will that dot or mark become? The eye of a dragon perhaps? (a dragon is always a good possibility in my world...) A bug landing on a flower? A part of an alien spacecraft? A bubble floating out of a fish's mouth? Someone's smile? A stone in the wall of a castle? The possibilities are endless.

By the way - please tell me - Am I the only kook thinking about next year already, when I'm not even packed away and cleaned up from this one? Sigh.........

I do the same as well. And, I also use The Dots as my first project for first grade. We do pointillism with it. Here's a gallery of the project we did: http://www.artsonia.com/museum/gallery.asp?exhibit=212473 I love it because they ALL turn out well, which is a good start for some of those shy first graders that think they aren't "good" at art.

Jodi, WOW! I just checked out your gallery, and those pics are SO COOL!! I'm saving your instructions and I'll definitely do that with one grade level in the fall. (I thought I'd use "The Dot" across several grades, but approach the lesson a little differently for each.) Thanks for the inspiration! I also like his book "Ish".

About Me

Hi, I'm Phyl and after 36 years as an art teacher, I am now officially retired, but that doesn't mean I'm done with art education. The truth is, I'm more involved now than ever before! I hope you'll visit me often as I share art lesson ideas, thoughts on art education, my own personal artistic and photographic endeavors, and tidbits about my family and the beautiful environment where we live.